IDF forces operate in the Gaza Strip
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
After ten days, with 30 casualties and around 300 wounded, the IDF said on Sunday that it has completed the siege on Gaza City effectively splitting the Gaza Strip in two.
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Israeli forces have fully surrounded the largest city within the Palestinian enclave, sealing off all access points. The strategic move aims to pressure terrorist strongholds into either engaging in open combat or remaining isolated within the city's extensive network of underground tunnels.
"IDF troops, led by Golani Reconnaissance Unit, encircled Gaza City," IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Sunday. "They arrived at the coast and the southern side of Gaza City and they encircled Gaza City. Essentially today there is a northern Gaza and a southern Gaza. We have arrived at the beach and they are strengthening this line. We continue to allow for a corridor for the residents of northern Gaza and Gaza City to move southward. This is a one-way corridor to the south."
"We continue to attack with strength and we continue to carry out our ground operation in northern Gaza and the greater Gaza City. Since the beginning of the ground operations, we have struck more than 2,500 targets. Also at this hour, we are carrying out a large attack on terrorist infrastructure both below and above ground, killing terrorists and searching for senior Hamas commanders."
"We attack with great strength at night and throughout the day, and this evening we are carrying out a significant operation. I want to highlight the hundreds of medical personnel including hundreds of women doctors and paramedics who are on the battlefield, bravely providing life-saving medical treatment during battle," Hagari added.
The military is working on a plan for the ground offensive to also include subterranean operations. This strategy includes an expansion of assaults on tunnel networks via engineering initiatives and coordinated airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force. On Sunday, the forces successfully breached the fortified Netzarim corridor, facilitating the evacuation of hundreds of Gaza residents to a secure zone in the region's southern sector.
A similar effort by Israeli forces to pry open a humanitarian corridor on Saturday resulted in Hamas terrorists attacking soldiers while attempting to use the remaining civilians in Gaza as human shields.
According to the IDF, while most civilians have relocated to the southern part of the Strip, several thousand remain in the north. The military is actively encouraging northern residents to move south to allow for greater operational flexibility.
However, the IDF won't rush to capture Hamas's central strongholds in the heart of Gaza, such as the Shifa Hospital where senior members of the organization and hundreds of other terrorists are hiding.
Meanwhile, every building marked as a target is under attack. In certain cases, plumes of smoke and dust have been observed emerging unexpectedly from locations ranging from hundreds of meters to several kilometers away from the initial tunnel strike points, revealing the vast and intricate web of branch tunnels that extend from the Strip's extensive underground network.
The IDF is asking the political echelons for time to complete the mission, which will take weeks to months and exact a significant toll on Hamas. Following the completion of this phase, the military will develop its strategy for the subsequent phase of the operation.
First published: 23:15, 11.05.23